Interest in estate planning is high. But...

Interest in estate planning and legacy giving is up. Are your legacy leads and gift disclosures keeping pace?

In the United States and around the world, people experienced/are experiencing the most significant mortality event in memory – the Covid 19 epidemic. With disproportionate impact on older adults, many decided that it was a crucial time to get their estate plans created or updated. And even younger people started thinking about their plans.

Of course, just because interest in planning is high doesn’t mean that there is an equivalent increase in legacy interest to any particular charity.

We’re seeing some clear trends from focus groups, surveys, donor interviews, and other first-person data:

• A sizable increase in the number of donors who have an estate plan

• A significant increase in legacy gift consideration from those without kids

• Ongoing feelings of conflict between potential needs of their family against the desire to support important causes

• A big DECREASE in the number of donors who are willing to share their gift intention or their gift consideration with charity

That last point is discouraging. Why won’t they share? We're nice! But they’ve said:

• It’s private

• I have no idea what the future holds. What good does it do for an organization to know about something that might not happen?

• You’ve got competition and I haven’t decided yet

• Other organizations have bothered me for details I don’t want to give

• I don’t need any information. I have a lawyer

• I don’t want fundraisers to bother me with “stewardship” if I disclose (ouch)

• I won’t share anything if I don’t have a relationship with someone at the organization

• If you give me an opportunity to tell you, I might – but only when I’m good and ready

• My attorney told me not to tell

Well. That’s a challenge. I’m not sure I can untangle that in this article!

Good news!

It feels reflexive right now to parrot “family comes first” on legacy materials. But that message hasn’t been getting through. You could concentrate solely on donors without children/grandchildren/other family, I suppose. But there are many more people with families than without, so ignore them at your peril.

However, there's some good news: The supporters we've interviewed all agree on a simple message. We’ve seen it move some “family only” people to reconsider: “I never thought about it that way. Maybe I could put a nonprofit in my will after all.” And we’ve seen it move people who might consider a gift at some point far in the future, when they are certain their kids won’t need those resources, to think about how to include a charity now.

99% for family and 1% to charity

That's it? It seems so simple, doesn't it? When we let supporters know that leaving even a tiny percentage after caring for family makes an enormous difference, we see them reconsider in real time! This is a message that you can carry in your marketing and in your conversations. And testing in other countries shows the same results. It seems to be universal.

Add it to these other critical elements:

1) Compelling legacy proposition; strong statement of vision/need/impact

2) Simple explanation of how to make a gift (and your tax ID number). Remind them that naming your organization as a contingent beneficiary of a retirement plan is even easier.

3) A specific person to contact if they choose

4) Reminder that no one knows what the future holds, and that you absolutely respect their right to change their plans at any time

This can make a real difference for your organization. I can’t promise your donors will tell you about their gift, or if they’re now considering one. But sharing the right case and the right ask makes it much more likely that your organization will be included in your supporters’ plans.

And finally, it bears repeating: If you have major donors with whom you’ve built relationships, you MUST include a discussion about their future giving. Not only will it enrich the conversation, but it’s also one of the few times you can be a little bit certain that the donor will share their legacy plans and/or consideration with you!